Aoyama Crows is a live album by the Die Like a Dog Quartet: saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake.

[1][2] In the album liner notes, Brötzmann recalled the circumstances leading up to the performance: "Got up at four o'clock in the morning, somewhere in Sweden - Hamid was there, as well, we were on tour with our Chicago tentet - the flight was late - got to Berlin in the afternoon - Kondo came in from Tokyo, William from New York, so they both had their share of stress, as well.

"[6] Writing for One Final Note, Derek Taylor commented: "These four may have been feeling the debilitating effects of jet lag, sleep deprivation and hunger during their performance, but these mortal ailments hardly damper the ecstatic nature of their improvisations.

If anything, their collective sound is laid bare and expanded under the aegis of exhaustion as they plumb regions of expression hardly probed in the past... a meaty effort backed by plenty of thrills.

The heightened unity that comes from a long period of working together has simply paid off in a new comfort level, permitting the players to let down their guard and follow as friends instead of strangers.